The Huntress
by WriterBlack
Summary: Raine Hardy lead a simple life. A soldier in the Special Forces and an adventurer at heart, however she never thought a simple scouting mission would lead her into the most dangerous war of her life. Her story is made of pain and suffering, but also of love and understanding. Maybe a big strong man did save her, or maybe they saved each other.


June 3rd-1500 hours-Montana

"Alright team so, we've gotten reports of suspicious activity in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, coordinates 45.0583 latitude, -109.5654 longitude." A fuzzy voice spoke over the helmets internal radio. "Sources say there have been sounds of explosions and rapid gun fire over the last few weeks. There is a suspect terrorist organization known to hang around these parts, so proceed with caution."

A team of three soldiers stood near a cave in the deepest part of an unnamed mountain in Montana preparing for a scouting mission possibly turned hostile. It is a team of one commanding officer and two lieutenants.

"Our ground team is ready with back up and so far there are no heat signatures inside the cave, no signs of life either." Lieutenant Grey, the environment specialist, looks over her wrist computer looking for anything that might indicate possible hostiles.

"Good. Second Lieutenant Hardy, you'll take lead."

"What? Commander are you sure?" Second Lieutenant Hardy was a young soldier, signed up on her 18th birthday and leaving her hometown and her past behind. Her fiery red hair gave her the nickname Red and was always considered the toughest of all the soldiers she's worked with. She worked her way up the ranks so quickly and after 3 years earned the rank of second lieutenant to the most sought after commander in the entire Special Forces.

Commander Pick was an older gentleman who's been in the military longer than Hardy and Grey had been alive. Alfred Pick was a strict man who trained his cadets without mercy. Holly Grey and Raine Hardy joined at around the same time, Raine was newly 18 and Holly was 21, and immediately they formed an inseparable bond, an irreversible friendship that got them to where they are now. As they now stand at the base of the cave as First Lieutenant Grey and Second Lieutenant Hardy they know they would die for each other, forcing Holly to question Commander Pick's decision to allow Raine to take the lead in this tedious and rumor based mission.

"Commander, she's still learning, is this wise?"

"Are you questioning my decision Lieutenant?" While faces may be covered by black helmets both Holly and Raine new that the Commander did not appreciate second guessers.

"No sir."

"Right then. Red, you're my best fighter, that's why I want you to take lead. I want you to get practice, because one day you'll be the best goddamned soldier in this country. You have potential, I saw it from the moment I saw you. Take advantage of your talents." Pick laid a single hand on Raine's shoulder, instilling a confidence in her that she never really honed.

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." He only nods once and guides her to the front of their group.

Without another word Raine flipped on the flashlight on her rifle and pointed it to the opening of the cave leading the team forward.

"Still no heat signatures. Not even a bat." Holly multitasked pointing forward with her gun while reading her wrist computer.

"Odd. Turn of flashlights, switch on night vision. I have a bad feeling about this." Raine was smart and new that every ounce of nature had animals, no matter how deserted or extreme the environment, so to have nothing show up, that is more unsettling than the cave being full of life.

The three made their way through the cave until a huge flash of energy spiked on Holly's wrist, nearly blinding her through the night vision lens.

"Shit! Where the hell did that come from?"

"What is it?"

"We've got massive energy readings from further in the cave, damn, it just appeared out of nowhere."

"Everyone stay on guard. Sorry Red, but I gotta take charge now. Something's going on here."

"Yes sir." Raine stepped back behind Pick as he took the head creating a triangle form of guns trained forward.

"Grey, what kind of energy are we talking about here?"

"I'm not sure sir. It's off the chart, I've never seen anything like this before."

"Alright, we're going in blind. Follow my lead." Commander Pick leads the team further into the cave when suddenly the ground below started to glow and tremble. "What the hell!?" Then, before anyone could move the rock face beneath them cracked and fell apart causing the team to fall below and deeper into the mountain. The fall is short, but hard, leading the three to crash roughly onto a muggy cave floor. "Fuck! Everyone, report!"

"Im good." Replied Raine.

"Me too." From Holly.

"Okay, then. What the actual fuck just happened?"

"Energy readings are even higher sir."

"Roger that Grey. Let's move forward, see what this _amazing_ energy is." Pick leads Holly and Raine even deeper, closer and closer to the energy source. The further they went the warmer the air got and the higher the readings on Holly's computer get.

"Temperature's almost 90 degrees." Reports Holly. "Whatever this thing is, it's producing a significant amount of heat."

"Now I really want to know what the hell this thing is." Holly and Raine share a look, concerned about the curiosity of their commander and what it might lead to. "C'mon."

Seemingly out of nowhere a bright, similar to the one that appeared beneath them, lit the cave and drew the team to a single point. This single point was a grotto like structure with a single glowing blue orb in the center, the walls filled with calligraphic shapes and symbols of which none of the soldiers had ever seen before. Even Raine, who spent her childhood and teenage years studying and exploring ancient ruins, couldn't recognize the origin of these symbols.

"Red, you recognize any of this? You studied this kinda shit when you were a kid right?"

"No, Commander, I've never seen anything like this." Raine ran her hand across the chiseled walls. "It seems like some kind of language or writing, but it's not anything I'm familiar with."

"Hmmm. Grey any idea what this thing is?" Pick and Holly were focused on the glowing orb while Raine continued to study the walls.

"It's the thing that's been giving off all this energy, I mean you can feel the heat coming off of it, but I have no idea what it is." Grey continued scanning the orb, hoping to find something that could tell the team more.

"Is it possible to move it? Maybe Roswell knows what it is."

"Roswell? You think it's alien?" Raine knew that the world was bigger than she realized, but aliens? Even that was stretching it for her. The Commander on the other hand was all for the conspiracy theories and alien stories.

"It would explain the writings, and the technology of that device, I know for a fact there is nothing like this on Earth."

Suddenly, and without warning, the strange orb began to pulse, shaking the mountain and creating a wave of energy that surrounded the team.

"Grey! What's happening!"

"I don't know sir! It just started doing this by itself!"

"Damn!"

"Commander! We have to get out of here!"

"No! This device might be lost to us forever! We have to take it with us!" At this point Holly was entranced by this orb and refused to leave without it. Pick may be interested in the device but was not willing to risk his team for it.

"Grey! Leave it! That's an order!"

"No!" Before anyone could stop her, Holly went for the orb and grabbed it in her arms. A blinding light filled the tunnels of caves in the mountain and startled the base team.

"Gallatin Team, what's going on up there!?" No response. "Gallatin Team, come in!" Nothing. "Damn it, get the back up squad up there now!"

By the time the second squad reached the cave Gallatin Team started in there was nothing left. The grotto and the tunnels and caves were all filled in.

"No readings of life." Reported a scout. "What ever happened, Team Gallatin is dead."

In reality, however, Gallatin Team was very much alive, and very far away.


End file.
